Cork city centre library plans ‘falling behind the curve’

Plans for the new city centre library are “falling behind the curve”, Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy has said, after the council provided a “very vague” update on progress.

In 2021, Cork City Council announced that funding of €46.05m from Ireland 2040’s urban regeneration and development fund for the Grand Parade Quarter would help regenerate the southern end of Grand Parade.

That regeneration would include Bishop Lucey Park, public realm works in Tuckey St and South Main St, and “help progress plans to develop a new 7,700sq m city library”, the council said at the time.

Rebecca Loughry, director of corporate, community and cultural affairs, told Mr McCarthy: “The City Library Service is a key component of the cultural, literary, and recreational infrastructure of Cork City and it is an important element in the wider community now and into the future.

“The commitment to providing a new City Library of scale and substance is one that is a priority for Cork City Council. Work is ongoing to make this happen and further updates will be provided as this matter progresses.”

Mr McCarthy told The Echo he was disappointed with the response, saying: “We’ve had work on Bishop Lucey Park, Tuckey St, the two new bridges — all of those are linked to the overall regeneration of Grand Parade and the library is a major missing puzzle piece.

He explained that parts of the building are in place since the 1930s, saying: “It needs a major revamp — it’s not going to fall down any time soon, but the project needs to move on now, we’ve been talking about it for a long time. Over the years, we’ve seen the development of libraries in shopping centres, but not a focus on the centre’s library, so it’s falling behind the curve.”

Mr McCarthy asked at the meeting for the topic to be put on the agenda of the council’s community and culture strategic policy committee for further discussion.